In Utah, farmers are concerned that ungulates are damaging safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) fields. I examined elk (Cervus elaphus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) damage to safflower production in San Juan County, Utah during 2009 and 2010. Data on damaged safflower plants were collected within 28 fields, totaling 1,581 ha (13 fields totaling 963 ha during 2009; 15 fields totaling 618 ha during 2010). I compared 3 methods to assess losses: ungulate-proof exclosures, adjacent plant compensation method, and counting the number of damaged plants in 50-m transects (safflower count method). Exclosures were of limited use because they could not be erected until farmers stopped using cultivating their fields. Hence, this method did not account for ungulate damage to young plants. The adjacent plant compensation method assessed yields within 1 m of a randomly-selected damaged plant to account for any compensatory growth of neighboring plants but this method proved inaccurate because ungulate herbivory was concentrated so that a browsed plant was often surrounded by other browsed plants so no compensatory growth by surrounding plants occurred. The most accurate method was the safflower count method which determined the number of damaged plants within a field and then multiplied this number by the decrease in yield from an average damaged plant. I used this method to examine 981,000 plants for damage. Deer and elk damaged or killed 7.2% of safflower plants during 2009 and 1.4% of plants during 2010. Overall yield reduction was 2.9% during 2009 and 0.6% in 2010. The total value of safflower loss within all surveyed fields in 2009 was $9,023 for a loss of $9.42 / ha. The loss of value within surveyed fields in 2010 was $2,330, or $3.77 / ha. The best model for predicting ungulate damage in 2009 included distance to canyon from field edge and the percent of a field bordered by a fallow field, while the best model for 2010 included distance to canyon from field edge and the percent of a field bordered by a wheat field. Safflower farmers were surveyed in the spring of 2010 to compare perceived losses in their fields during 2009 to those measured in this study. Farmers believed that damage by deer and elk reduced their yields by 20% with most damage caused by elk (x¯ =12% by elk, 7% by deer, 1% by other wildlife). On average, perceptions of damage were 5.2 times higher than the actual levels I measured during 2009. This was not surprising because farmers usually surveyed their field from the field’s edge and ungulate damage was concentrated along the edge of the fields.

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This study explores the processes and conditions surrounding long-term care decision-making and care management after traumatic brain injury. Grounded theory methodology and methods were used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 51 participants in New South Wales, Australia. A grounded theory of care management was developed through constant comparison of data and cases and identified a social problem, a core social process, strategies, conditions and consequences. The basic social problem was the need for ongoing care, a problem which the person with brain injury and others managed collectively. Together, they determined an appropriate care location or living situation, configuration of carers and level of care. This study provides a framework for understanding preferred ways of living with care after brain injury. Increased autonomy was a desired outcome. Living alone and spending time alone were associated with increased autonomy and increased risk. A series of strategies and processes are suggested that allow professionals and family carers to gradually increase risk, and share responsibility for risk management. The findings have implications for health professional and legal practice, education, research and policy. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The aim of the thesis was to evaluate the effectiveness of static hand splints for the prevention of muscle contracture during early rehabilitation following acquired brain impairment. Three studies were undertaken and are reported in the research. The aim of the first study was to appraise the existing research on the effects of hand splinting for adults with hemiplegia following acquired brain impairment. The aim of the second study was to evaluate the effectiveness of static hand splints which position the wrists and fingers in the common ‘functional position’ when provided in conjunction with a rehabilitation program which included daily motor training and prolonged stretches. The aim of the final study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two hand splinting positions, the ‘functional position’ and a position of wrist and finger extension, in comparison to a control group that did not receive prolonged stretches. Findings indicate that splinting the hand in the ‘functional’ position or in a position of greater wrist extension did not prevent contracture following acquired brain impairment over the course of the study periods (4 weeks with follow up at 4 and 6 weeks in studies 2 and 3 respectively). / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The overall aim of this Thesis was to characterise the energetic properties of the mouse papillary muscle as this preparation could become a useful model to study alterations of energetic aspects of cardiac pathologies and heart-focussed genetic changes. Measurements of resting and active metabolism of the papillary muscles were made in vitro using the myothermic technique. In the first study the mechanism underlying impaired contractility of post-ischaemic rat papillary muscle was investigated. The rat preparation is well established and was used to develop protocols and approaches that could later be used as the basis for studies with mouse papillary muscle. The muscles were exposed to simulated ischaemia for 60 min and change in energetics was studied 30 min into the reperfusion phase. The work output was reduced to 66 ± 3% of the pre-ischaemia value and the enthalpy output decreased to 71 ± 3% of pre-ischaemia value. However, there was no change in either initial, 19 ± 3%, or net mechanical efficiency, 9.0 ± 0.9%. These data, in combination with studies of Ca2+ handling, suggests that the reduced work output was caused by attachment of fewer cross-bridges in each twitch, but with no change in work generated by each cross-bridge. The following two studies involved characterisation of the energetics of the mouse papillary muscle and included measurements of resting and active metabolism. The resting metabolic rate varied with muscle size but the mean initial value was tilda 25 mW g-1 and the estimated steady value tilda 5 mW g-1 . The resting metabolic rate declined exponentially with time towards a steady value, with a time constant of 18 ± 2 min. There was no alteration in isometric force output during this time. The magnitude of resting metabolism depended inversely on muscle mass, more than doubled following a change in substrate from glucose to pyruvate and was increased 2.5-fold when the osmolarity of the bathing solution was increased by addition of 300 mM sucrose. Addition of 30 mM BDM affected neither the time course of the decline in metabolic rate nor the eventual steady value. The energy requirements associated with contractile activity were tilda7 mJ g-1 twitch-1 at a contraction frequency of 1 Hz. The enthalpy output was not affected by changing substrate from glucose to pyruvate but did decrease with an increase in temperature. The enthalpy output was partitioned into force-dependent and force-independent components using BDM to selectively inhibit cross-bridge cycling. The force-independent enthalpy output was 18.6 ± 1.9% of the initial enthalpy output. Muscle initial efficiency was &tilda32% and net efficiency tilda 17% when shortening at a realistic velocity. The enthalpy output decreased with increased contraction frequency but was independent of shortening velocity. On the basis of these values, it was calculated that the twitch energetics were consistent with ATP splitting by half the cross-bridges and the pumping of one Ca 2+ into the SR for every three cross-bridge cycles. The lack of influence of shortening velocity on energy cost supports the idea that the amount of energy to be used is determined early in a twitch and is not greatly influenced by events that occur during the contraction. The suitability of the mouse papillary muscle as a model to study ischaemia and reperfusion damage was also assessed. This preparation is excellent for studying muscle specific changes in work and enthalpy output; however, due to the long-term instability and variability amongst preparations, the suitability of this preparation in prolonged experiments remains uncertain.

This thesis describes a study on the impact of selected nutrients, growth hormones and in vivo genome stability on breast cancer risk in BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutation carriers. Peripheral blood lymphocyes of BRCA germline mutation carriers and healthy non-carrier controls were studied for the impact of folic acid deficiency on genome damage and the methionine-dependence phenotype (MDP; in combination with common polymorphisms in one-carbon metabolism) on breast cancer risk, respectively. Plasma IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were determined and chromosome 17 aneuploidy and Her2 amplification were assessed in mononucleated lymphocytes to establish the association of these markers on breast cancer risk in BRCA germline mutation carriers, independently or in combination with plasma folate, vitamin B12, homocysteine, selenium and common gene variants in the one-carbon metabolism, DNA repair genes or glutathionine S-transferase.

This thesis details an investigation into the properties and applications of shape memory alloy (SMA) composites. SMA-composites are a new material which have the possibility of having a large impact on what the structures as we know today, are constructed with. SMA-composites are adaptive materials which can be used to control the shape and frequencies of vibration of a structure. In order to determine the effectiveness of such a material, research into the functional properties of SMAs and SMA-composites was conducted. As an initial step, the transformation behaviour of constrained SMAs was investigated in order to obtain a better understanding into the recovery stress generation of these wires when embedded into a composite material. It is known that the transformation is based on two types of martensite within the alloy; self accommodating and preferentially oriented martensite. The amounts of each type and how they vary with differing pre-strain were determined through DSC measurements and an explanation for why preferentially oriented martensite is not observed during DSC testing was made. The next step was to investigate the effectiveness of embedding SMA wires into composites and the thermomechanical properties of the SMA wires and the SMA-composites were determined. This was completed using a specially designed tensile testing machine which was capable of having the whole specimen immersed into an oil bath and heated and cooled repeatedly. The stress-strain, strain-temperature, stress-temperature, resistance-strain and cyclic properties of various wires were obtained, giving a better understanding of the behaviour of SMA wires under different test conditions. NiTiCu SMA wires were embedded into kevlar composite materials and the recovery stress generation (stress-temperature), stress-strain, and strain-temperature behaviour was determined. If SMA-composites are to be used as new materials for structural applications, verification that the embedment of pre-strained SMA wires into the material doesn't adversely affect the impact behaviour needs to be carried out. SMA-composite specimens with varying volume fractions of superelastic SMA wires, pre-strain and position through the thickness were made up for impact damage characterisation. These specimens were impacted at three different energy levels. The results showed that by embedding SMA wires into composite materials there is a reasonably low damage accumulation after impact. There is also no adverse impact effect on the structure compared with structures without wires as well as structures with other types of wires such as steel and martensitic SMA wires. The SMA-composites showed good damping and energy absorption capabilities. A novel application of SMA-composites is their use as a SMA patch in order to repair damage in existing cracked metallic structures. An analytical study and finite element modelling showing the closure stresses obtainable for use as patches was made.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is frequently associated with both cognitive and behavioural executive dysfunction. Assessment of executive dysfunction has traditionally been measured using tests that were not based on theory and this has been postulated as one reason why there are poor predictive relationships between performance on traditional executive tasks and functional outcome following TBI. Baddeley�s (1996) working memory model may offer a theoretical basis with which to design new executive measures and possibly improve prediction of outcome. Baddeley�s theory has made recent advances in identifying core central executive (CE) processes that are likely to be relevant to TBI. The research presented in the thesis used Baddeley�s proposed coordinative sub function of the CE (and it related dual tasking measure) to assess: (a) whether this theoretically based dual tasking test would be sensitive to TBI injury status and show a significant relationship with functional outcome, (b) whether the theoretically based test would be more sensitive to the above relationships than executive measures that have been traditionally available, and (c) whether more ecologically relevant dual tasks could be developed that reflect the coordinative construct and improve predictive relationships between task performance and real life functional ability. This study found that Baddeley�s Dual Task Test (DTT) measure was sensitive to TBI injury and was related to functional outcome following injury. A questionnaire assessing everyday dual tasking ability was developed as was an in vivo conversation and motor based dual task. The dual tasking questionnaire reflected Baddeley�s coordinative construct, however, applications to an in vivo conversation and motor based dual task were less successful. These ecologically relevant tasks showed a relationship between language dysfluencies and dual tasking and identified avoidance of dual tasking in everyday settings as an important predictor of functional outcome following injury. Overall the DTT and the dual tasking questionnaire showed greater injury sensitivity and stronger relationships with outcome than three executive measures traditionally used in clinical practice. Regression analysis confirmed that the dual based tasks were helpful in predicting a variety of outcomes following TBI, and implications for rehabilitation planning are discussed. Further increases in the predictive power of the dual tasking construct are likely to be achieved when mechanisms of action involved in both laboratory-based and real-life dual tasking are identified. Findings from the current study suggest a range of mechanisms could be involved in dual tasks and these are discussed.

Although it is well established that persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) experience word retrieval difficulties, the underlying cause of these deficits is not known. Difficulties with word retrieval have negative social implications as they can impact on the ability to converse with others. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to determine the underlying cause of problems with word retrieval after TBI. To test word retrieval in this dissertation, participants were given a series of word fluency tasks and the speed of word generation was measured. In addition to measuring interresponse times, procedures used by Rohrer, Wixted, Salmon and Butters (1995) were also followed. This involved the calculation of parameter estimates to investigate whether slowed retrieval or degraded semantic stores were responsible for the patients� word retrieval difficulties. One parameter (N) was a measure of the total number of retrievable words and the second parameter (tau) was an estimate of mean latency. Study 1 was designed to trial the procedure and equipment adopted throughout this dissertation to analyse speech. University students were presented with categories on a computer screen and asked to generate as many exemplars as possible in 60 seconds. A PowerLab Chart sound system was used to measure the time that each word was generated. The results of Study 1 showed that the methodology of previous research could be replicated using the PowerLab Chart sound system. In Study 2, persons with postconcussion syndrome (PCS) and matched controls were given two word fluency tasks. Results showed that on both tasks patients recalled fewer words, had longer pauses between words, and took significantly longer to generate their first word than controls. Also, patients had a significantly reduced N relative to controls, but there was no difference in tau between patients and controls. Given that the participants had not finished responding and that parameter estimates require responses to be exhausted, Study 3 was designed to replicate the findings of Study 2 using an extended recall period. In Study 3, patients with PCS and matched controls completed a series of word fluency tasks and were given extended periods of time to generate words. Results showed that the patients obtained significantly fewer words on two of the tasks, but no evidence of slowed retrieval was found. There was also no difference in the estimates of N and tau between patients and controls. As the patients in Study 3 sustained more minor injuries than those in Study 2, Study 4 tested patients with severe TBI. In Study 4, patients with severe TBI and matched controls were given a series of word fluency tasks. Results showed that the patients generated fewer words and experienced slowed retrieval. Again, there was no difference in the estimates of N and tau between patients and controls. The results of Study 4 confirmed the hypothesis that slowed word retrieval is a consequence of TBI. Taken together, the results of this dissertation show that an underlying slowness of processing is the primary cause of problems with word retrieval in persons with TBI.

The major objective of the research was to improve lychee postharvest management, through a greater understanding of mechanical injury and moisture loss. Mechanical injury is a known cause of postharvest loss in lychee, but previously published information has been limited to broad observations. In this study, the symptoms of mechanical damage in lychee were defined, including quantitative measurement of colour changes. Impact injury caused protuberance tip darkening, cracking of the pericarp and significant changes in skin colour. Compression also typically caused tip darkening, and severe loads were capable of puncture, shape distortion and skin cracking. Abrasion and vibration injuries were characterised by strong yellowing of pericarp colour, possibly due to the leakage of cell contents onto the fruit surface. Vibration also caused significant darkening and loss of colour saturation. Vibration has not previously been mentioned as an issue in lychee postharvest management, but appeared to be as important a problem as desiccation browning at the wholesale level, both in incidence and severity. Mechanically damaged fruit consistently showed increased ethylene and carbon dioxide synthesis, and moisture loss was increased by up to 30%. Some significant changes in skin biochemistry and cuticle properties were also detected. The study of damaged tissue by SEM revealed distinctive patterns of surface tissue disruption. Open pericarp cracking was a particularly detrimental injury, causing significantly increased electrolyte leakage and rapid pathogen development. The effects of load characteristics, such as magnitude, method of application, site, repetition and cushioning, on the extent of damage were defined. Fruit characteristics such as cultivar, gross morphology, temperature, hydration and surface wetness were shown to significantly affect damage levels. Small seed size was correlated with increased cracking susceptibility. Fruit surface wetness exacerbated vibration or abrasion damage. Turgid fruit were less susceptible to vibration and abrasion damage, but showed increased susceptibility to impact cracking. Previously neglected aspects of desiccation browning research were studied, including cultivar and maturity effects, sites of moisture loss and the role of air currents. Cultivar effects on moisture loss were obscured by pre-harvest factors, but consistent cultivar differences were detected in desiccation browning, possibly related to skin thickness. In contrast, maturity levels over a marketable range had little effect on weight loss or browning. Moisture was lost fairly evenly over the fruit surface, but poor postharvest handling appeared to massively increase loss from the protuberance tips. Moisture loss was shown to substantially increase ethylene synthesis. The crucial role of air currents in exacerbating lychee moisture loss was emphasised, and the relationship between air speed and weight loss was defined. The research contributed to a greater understanding of the processes of mechanical damage and moisture loss in lychee, leading to improved protocols for the postharvest management of the fruit. Improved management of mechanical damage and moisture loss will ultimately improve fruit quality and reduce postharvest losses, hence increasing returns to industry.